Wednesday, March 25, 2009

These are photos of compost bins, showing the immense amount of choices you have when building your bin...but wait a minute, why are there photos of compost bins? Well....

The city recently announced that they would no longer be picking up yard waste. Many residents are now frustrated and looking for solutions---and some it appears don't even know, as I have seen many bags sitting for days on the curb. Here is a link to a recent Dispatch article:

No worries! Here is a simple and cheap compost bin to take your unwanted yard waste and turn it into rich compost.

http://www.stopwaste.org/home/index.asp?page=445#ez

This is the same bin that Amy Youngs and myself are featuring tomorrow on 10tv with Anietra Hamper. There are many other options ranging from free to hundreds of dollars, to fit any budget or need, check out the "instructables" site and you could have any shape or size!

http://www.instructables.com/id/Composting/

You can compost all types of materials and there are some great sites that give you step by step instructions and also addresses Why? So why should you compost you ask? It is easy, you take something that would fill up our trash bins and create something you can use to grow produce, flowers and herbs. You can save hundreds of dollars on buying compost. It is the smart thing to do and what all of the cool people do with their yard waste....

http://compostinstructions.com/

Finally, you don't have to just compost with yard waste. I have a compost bin that the previous tenants gifted me (thanks to Meredith Joy and Mike Reed!) and I compost all vegetable, fruit peels, egg shells, coffee grounds and tea bags..anything but animal products. I also belong to the University Area Community Gardening Collective...so we have plenty of room for members to compost. You could also start a collective area in your neighborhood, with permission, to compost. One of our members of the Hudson and 4th Community Garden, Amy Youngs created a series of worm composting bin bags, a table and yes, even a composting couch. (she is an artist and all around brilliant person) See her own worm bin bag:

http://wiki.vermicomposters.com/wormbin/How_to_make_a_worm_bin_bag

Here is a link to her composting art:

http://accad.osu.edu/~ayoungs/digestive.html

So,you have a few options: Pay for a service $49.50 every 6 months, load up and drive your yard waste to the outer areas of Columbus, throw it all away or burn it---both TERRIBLE ideas for the environment or...COMPOST and do it easily.

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Edward Abbey said:

"If America could be, once again, a nation of self-reliant farmers, craftsmen, hunters, ranchers, and artists, then the rich would have little power to dominate others. Neither to serve nor to rule: That was the American dream."